Tag Archives: Russia

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California man who pleaded guilty earlier this month to unwittingly selling bank accounts to Russians meddling in U.S. elections made a mistake and is coming to terms with his role in the matter, his attorney told The Associated Press on Friday.

The United States on Thursday publicly blamed Russia for carrying out the so-called NotPetya cyber attack last year that crippled government and business computers in Ukraine before spreading around the world. The statement by the White House came hours after the British government attributed the attack to Russia, a conclusion already reached and made public by many private sector cyber security experts. The attack in June of 2017 “spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

MOSCOW (AP) — After a week of unanswered questions, Russia acknowledged Thursday that five of its citizens may have been killed by a U.S. strike in Syria, the first time Russians have died at U.S. hands in Syria's chaotic battlefield.

With American, Russian, Syrian government, Syrian rebels, Iranian forces, Turkish forces, ISIS and others operating in the close confines of Syria, there is a real possibility that a miscalculation or error might lead to a wider conflict. Indeed, one only needs to look to a recent confrontation between U.S. forces and the Syrian regime in eastern Ghouta to see the potential danger. In the ensuing battle, U.S. forces killed approximately 100 regime fighters.

The heads of six top U.S. intelligence agencies said on Tuesday that Russian interference in American democracy has not diminished since the 2016 presidential race and is continuing heading into this year’s midterms.

The Russian defence ministry has criticised an independent news website for publishing the average salaries of military officers after a Russian pilot’s plane was downed over Syria. Saint Petersburg’s respected news website Fontanka revealed late Monday that with basic information anyone can access the personal files of servicemen on the ministry’s online database. It suggested that Major Roman Filipov — who was killed on Saturday in fighting with Islamists after his warplane was downed in northwest Syria — received as much.